For Tonight
by rogueandkurt
Summary: When Beast Boy's nightmares wake Raven, she proves she can tolerate him. But just for tonight. BBRAE SemiFluff.


Hey all. This is my first Teen Titans fic. I wrote it in a day, so if it supremely sucks, my apologies for the waste of your time.

Just some BBRae Fluff (if you can call it that). Any and all responses are appreciated.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

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The superhero known to the world as Raven was stirring in her sleep. Her amethyst eyes opened slowly and found their way to the clock on her bedside nightstand, which proudly declared the time to be 1:13 in the morning. She rolled her eyes in disgust. As much as she considered herself a morning person, this was an ungodly hour to be awake.

Blinking, she allowed her eyes to further adjust to the dark before surveying her room. Why had she woken up? She searched for the culprit that had disturbed her rest, but her room looked as it always did. Raven was about to give up and go back to sleep when she heard it; it was soft at first but growing with each passing moment. A cry in the night. Some muffled words perhaps, but it was definitely someone within the Tower.

Resolved to find the noise (and possibly murder its maker in the process), Raven rose from the comfort of her bed, pushing back the sheets. She repressed a shiver as the cold air hit her leotard, but decided against putting on her cape and hood. Silently, she began the trek.

The hallway was as dark as her room, but she gracefully made her way without tripping. The noise was growing louder. It amazed her that she'd been able to hear it in her sleep, through the thick walls of the Tower. Now it sounded like painful moaning. And it was coming from the room at the end of the hall. Beat Boy's room.

Raven's eyes narrowed. The last time she'd heard strange noises coming from Beast Boy's room was when he'd turned into the Beast. That hadn't been a pleasant experience. She resolved to approach with caution this time.

Walking slowly and with purpose, she neared his closed door. She knocked softly, unsure of what she'd find.

"Beast Boy?" She called in a voice just better than a whisper. "Beast Boy, I'm coming in."

She entered cautiously, and narrowed her eyes at the source of the disturbance. Beast Boy was having a nightmare. She wondered viciously why his noise had not disturbed anyone else in the Tower, before resolving that it was just her bad luck.

Raven sighed, pasting a glare on her face. Fine. She'd fix this and get back to bed. Maybe if Beast Boy was lucky, she wouldn't completely humiliate him about having nightmares at his age.

Stepping carefully over the piles of dirty clothes and, not altogether surprising, toys, she made her way to his bed, which lay against the opposite wall. The room was bathed in the soft green glow of Beast Boy's clock radio, which now declared the time to be 1:17 AM. His was the only bunk bed in the Tower and, to reasons unknown to her, he only ever slept on the top bunk. She briefly wondered if the higher altitude appealed to his Animal Side, but pushed the thought away to concentrate on the matter at hand.

She reached the bed, and used her powers to levitate to his level. Beast Boy was still moaning in his sleep. She blushingly noticed that, unlike her, he chose not to sleep in his uniform, and instead was clad in his boxers. Politely averting her eyes, she looked at his face.

There were beads of sweat running down his forehead, and his eyes were clenched tight, as if in pain. He writhed, straining against his bed sheets, which had become tangled around his arm and legs and were, in effect, restraining him.

"…Wait…No, stop!" He was sleep-talking again, his words barely discernable from the low cries and gasping. He was breathing heavily, his arms flailing about, apparently trying to protect himself from something.

Raven had had about enough. She took a deep breath.

"Beast Boy," she called, her tone dry and bored. He made no motion that he'd heard her speak.

"…Come back…please, stop…" His words were hushed now, but still mumbled. His whole body jumped as if he'd been hit by something. Raven knew if he kept this up, he was likely to wake the rest of the Titans.

Calmly, she lifted her hand to grip his waving arm firmly.

"Beast Boy," She was louder this time, and shook his arm in her grasp. "Wake up."

His eyes shot open and he shrunk away from her surprising presence. He glanced nervously around, looking for something. Raven calmly floated next to his bed as she reached a conclusion.

He didn't seem to realize where he was.

She watched as, still scared from the dream, his eyes welled up with tears.

"Mom?" he called softly. Raven sighed, somewhat put out as the realisation hit her. A nightmare about his parents could be forgiven. So much for ridiculing him.

Raven stiffened in shock as her green teammate pulled her into an emotional hug. Her arms limp at her side, she resisted the urge to growl at her altered companion. He wept into her shoulder.

This wasn't normal crying. She'd seen people cry before; this was all-out, pain-filled sobbing. An extreme expression of deep hurting and guilt. It made her feel uncomfortable. It wasn't pleasant to witness, no matter who it was happening to.

Awkwardly, she raised one of her hands to pat the boy a couple of times on the back, all the while cursing her bad luck. Why was she the one to deal with this? People weren't her thing. Starfire would have immediately known the right thing to do. Robin knew a thing or two about missing his parents, and Cyborg was best friends with Beast Boy. Any one of them would know how to react. Raven never knew how to handle situations like this.

For that matter, why was Beast Boy acting like this towards her of all people? They'd never had a close relationship, and she seriously doubted he'd willingly cry like this in front of just anyone.

"…They shouldn't be gone…I should have stopped it…"

His words were just as mumbled as before, now with the added bonus of body-wrenching sobs. His voice was hollow, though. It lacked its usual personality. Raven realised with extreme clarity that he wasn't fully awake. Still in the clutches of his nightmare, it was possible he didn't know what he was doing, or whom he was hugging.

Sadly, she couldn't begrudge him for being altered. Somewhat bitterly, she wondered if he thought it was Terra he was holding, Terra he was baring his soul to.

Luckily, his crying was beginning to subside. He was still gasping, but perhaps there were only so many tears a person could cry. Raven wouldn't know.

Plastering her patented glare on her face, she eyed him with a raised eyebrow as he slowly released her from his clutches. Just because he was altered didn't mean she couldn't treat him normally. She had a reputation to consider.

He pulled back slowly, still sniffling. Raven avoided his eyes; uncomfortable with the closeness she had just endured. Figuring her job to be done, she cleared her throat and began to lower herself to ground level.

A shaking hand shot out and grabbed her forearm.

"Wait!" Beast Boy's voice rang out in the night, hoarse from the crying. Raven's gaze turned to the green hand on her arm. He was gripping her with all his might.

"Please, don't go… I can't…don't leave me alone…"

There was something in his voice that scared her. It held nothing of his usual bravado or confidence. It was…raw. Childlike. He was terrified. But it was his face that held the biggest change.

She was now more certain than ever that Beast Boy wasn't himself. The boy sitting before her was someone else. A scared, lonely little child. Emotion was evident in every inch of his face. His deep green eyes were filled with sorrow and fear. He had an infant-like innocence, like a toddler who'd just had their first real tragedy. Every one of his thoughts was raw and open in his countenance. It was so unlike the annoying teammate she knew. There was no mask, no feigned assurance, only an underlying need for approval.

Raven used all of her willpower to restrain her shock, but she could look at him no longer. It felt so wrong, especially when he wasn't himself. Like seeing into someone's soul. This was a side no one willingly showed.

"…Please…" he whispered. The air hitched in Raven's chest. Now he was begging. Despite her assurances that he still didn't know who she was, this kind of pleading was disturbing coming from him. It wasn't 'can I have the last slice of pizza' begging. It was 'I need this, please help me' begging.

Against her better judgement, Raven felt herself agreeing to stay.

"But only until you fall asleep and you'd better not try anything!" Raven threatened, fully aware he wasn't really listening to her.

Beast Boy shifted in his bed, moving his body to the far side to allow Raven some room. Sighing, the Gothic girl lay down next to him and untangled the sheets to cover them both. She groaned and resisted the urge to throw things when he again hugged her. His right arm over her stomach and his head resting next to her neck, he held her like a childhood teddy bear. Slightly disgusted, she wrenched her right arm free from the hug, using it to prop up her head.

Raven practiced her calm breathing, vowing not to hurt the boy since he still wasn't himself. She wondered if he'd been this clingy as a child. Probably he had, after his parents' deaths and all. It might explain his constant need for attention.

_Stop it_, she chastised to herself. _He is who he is, an annoying little grass stain that jokes too much_. 

No, Raven was definitely not feeling sorry for him. After all, plenty of children lose their parents at young ages. They probably don't beg people to stay next to them until they fall asleep when they're grown up.

Raven listened as Beast Boy's breathing began to calm. Out of the corner of her eye, his face had adopted a content, relaxed smile. Not a trace of fear. Absentmindedly, she moved her hand to his head, her fingers playing with his spiky, unnatural hair.

He looked pretty harmless when he was sleeping.

Raven sighed. She could be comforting and understanding, and even endure his closeness, for tonight. Just for tonight.

She closed her eyes. In the morning, she knew he would wake up alone in his bed. Maybe he wouldn't remember it at all. Maybe he'd think it was a dream. He'd sit down for breakfast and steal glances at her, wondering if she was capable of it.

Raven certainly wasn't about to admit to it. She'd probably make a rude observation about his intelligence and ignore him for the rest of the day. As far as she was concerned, this had never happened. She wouldn't say a word about the nightmare to anyone. Not even him. It wouldn't change a thing between them.

She could be understanding. But only for tonight.

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That's it for me! I might change the story later, but there it is. May I say, TT is being cancelled before its time. 

Please review!

Keep Smiling! ;)

rogueandkurt


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